Favorite FREEBIE Homeschool Websites

These links are a wonderful way to bring education into your home and to supplement your homeschooling. There are links for preschoolers, grade schoolers, junior high, high school and Moms.

Some are oldies but goodies and some are ones you may have never seen before. These are in no certain order, just some different sites that we really enjoy and get a lot of help from. These are also great to have in a SAFE folder for your child to be able to go to when they have their media time. Please let me know if any of the links are bad and I will get them fixed.
Happy schooling!
Homeschool encouragement

https://thehomeschoolgal.blogspot.com

Homeschooling boys (they also talk about homeschooling girls too)

https://www.raisingrealmen.com/

http://www.homeschool-your-boys.com/index.htmlhttp://www.spellingcity.com/

LOVE this site! I entered in an entire year of spelling words and each week he uses this site to learn them. There is a ‘teach’, ‘play’ and ‘test’ area. He loves this site.
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Make your own comics, this is a great tool for creative thinking
Thanksgiving ideas (plus other holidays)
http://localhs.com/holiday/thanksgiving_elemetary.asp
Math games
http://sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
Tests grade school through high school
http://www.thatquiz.org/
Math games http://www.quia.com/mathjourney.html
Word scramble and puzzle makers
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/printable-worksheets/make-your-own/word-scramble/
Math & grammar games
http://www.funbrain.com/
Math games
http://www.lizardpoint.com/math/add-ws.html
Christianity Today home school info
https://www.todayschristianwoman.com
Lots of neat stuff here for Bible believing homeschoolers & Bible studies & character studies
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/bibleforms.htm
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
Worksheets for different grades
http://www.squidoo.com/50statesnotebook
Great ideas for state notebooks
http://www.barbarafrankonline.com/
Let’s play math
http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/
Lots of printable lessons
http://www.sonlight.com/TF4.html
I don’t use Sonlight curriculum, but the website offers up lots of great info on home schooling, books to order from your local library and it has book lists by grades. I enjoy the emails they send too.
Lots of printables
http://www.canteach.ca/

http://www.canteach.ca/links/linkhomeschool.html 

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_4.php

Math games & printable
http://homeschooling.about.com/
http://www.homeschooldiner.com/
Lesson plans
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp067.shtml
Crafts/Art
http://www.teacherhelp.org/crafts.htm#recipes
Physical science
http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsathome/index.cfm
Free resources
http://blog.learningresources.com/
Coloring pages & resources from National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coloringbook/archive/
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/index.htm
Neat stuff
http://www.unshackled.org/
Pacific Garden Mission-great place to take a field trip.
http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/
Good info & printables
http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/100-COMPLETELY-FREE-Distance-Learning-Resources-for-Homeschoolers-125.html
Evangelism tools for kids & fun stuff
https://www.wycliffe.org/resources/kids/activities
Homeschool Classifieds
http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com/planner_form.asp
This is a funny home school blog a few great articles & links to home school websites
https://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/
Timeline helps
https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/blogs/words-from-the-woods
Frugal website (sometimes has home school content, but otherwise about saving money with kids & being frugal.
https://www.livingonadime.com/
Interesting home school blog
http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/2007/10/homeschool-resources.html
Science homeschooling
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1256956745
Socialization of homeschoolers
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/sasschool/socialization.html
home schooling forms to print
http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/index.htm
Candy science experiments
http://www.candyexperiments.com/
Geography worksheets
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/geography.html
Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/play/games/
Neighborhood Bible Time kids site
http://www.nbtime.org/kidscorner.html
Weather
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treehouse/
History
http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/
Lego building projects

http://creative.lego.com/en-us/FamilyTime/buildinginstructionssecret/BuildingInstructionsBoxSecret.aspx?domainredir=legofamilytime.com

Hoping your enjoy some of these free goodies along your journey of crisis homeschooling or full-time homeschooling. Some of the links contain Christian materials and I did not receive any compensation from any of these websites for listing their links in this blog post.

Upcoming review of SpellingCity.com

I've been given a Homeschool Membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review. Can't wait to share it with you all!

VocabularySpellingCity helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Unscramble, Hangman, WordFind, and Crossword Puzzle. Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of the prepared lists. Try a sample game. on topics such as Multiple Meaning Words and Possessive Nouns . Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.

Lapbooking

A Journey Through Learning has lapbooks for many subjects and grade levels. These are great for all kids and even for kids with special needs.

We LOVE lapbooks in our homeschool. Learning made fun!http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/expresslapbook.html

Enjoy,
Moe

Poking Fun In The Homeschool

With the Homeschooled Young Man going into his junior year of high school in the fall, I've been doing a lot of reflecting and thinking back on our homeschool years.

We have been downsizing our homeschool materials for an upcoming used curriculum sale and it has brought back some fond memories of days gone by.

Just today as I was sitting in my rocking chair, a chair that holds many fond memories (our church nursery was remodeled and they bought brand new rocking chairs and gave away the old ones. They were delivered to my house and what a blessing it was to sit down in one, pick up the phone and call my out of state friend and say "Guess what I am doing? I am sitting in one of the rocking chairs that we both rocked our babies in!" It was a precious moment, remembering back to those days, for her 19 and 16 years ago, for me just 15 years ago.

Ok, rabbit trail here, back to the title of this blog post Poking Fun In The Homeschool...lol.

Finger Pointer Thingy

My son walked up to me this morning and poked me in the side with that finger pointer thingy. I am very ticklish and I was just giggling like a school girl as he kept poking me with it. The more I laughed the more he poked. I was not so much giggling at the tickling as I was at not having seen that finger pointer thingy in a very long time! He came across it as he was digging through his closet the other day.

I remember the day I bought that finger pointy thingy, we were at a Scholastic Book Fair sale and I was buying my teaching supplies, like a real teacher don't ya know? Hahaha, it was one of our first years of homeschooling, ya know the one where you have the Homeschool Momma dress on (actually I wore a cute denim apron that my Mom decorated up with buttons that had pencils, school bell, books and cute stuff like that on them), the student desk, decorated classroom, student with feet flat on the floor, pets banished from the room until school was over, ya, you're gettin' it now! lol. Yes, I was one of those 8:20am-3:00pm homechoolers. We even had school colors and a school mascot, we were Home of the Pugs!

I had big plans for that finger pointer thingy, it was going to keep my boy's eyes on the board, keep him engaged and force him to learn. I was going to fill that bucket (child) up as full as I could with information that he could spit out on a test!! You bet ya, he was going to learn!

Long about October of that same year, the Homeschooled Young Man asked if he could do his history on the couch with the dog, I told him as long as he got his work done. Then next thing you know he was under the kitchen table (his all time favorite place) on the floor with the dog doing science. A short time later he discovered fort making with sheets, blankets and kitchen chairs to study in. These shenanigans nearly ended our homeschool career before it really got off the ground when Homeschool Dad saw what was going on. Because you know, homeschooling dad's think that learning can only be done in a straight backed chair, a desk and feet flat on the floor.

Over time I sold the school desk (yes, it was the kind with seat attached and desktop lid that would lift up), took off my cute denim apron (I still have it), took down the classroom decorations and instead of doing school at home, we started HOME schooling. Better known now in the teenage years as car schooling since we live in the middle of nowhere and I am driving the Homeschooled Young Man back and forth to 4-H, job shadowing at the hospitals, doctor's offices, and his high school pre-medical school program, and to volunteering. We just pack up the school books, pile into the car and off we go! His chemistry book seems to be intriguing to many doctors and starts up some interesting conversations with them. They have shown him apps that they still have on their phones for the Periodic Table and chatted with him about struggles in O Chem.

After attending my first homeschool conference, I also realized that teaching is not simply filling a bucket with information that can be spit out on to a test. That one really rang my bell.

My homeschool decor has also changed, I have cute laminated quotes and pictures all around our homeschool bookshelves. They perk me up on a long day and get me through the tough times. The picture below is from The Old Schoolhouse magazine I've had it for years on my refrigerator and no matter how bad my day is, I can look at it and just laugh, I don't know why it makes me feel happy, but it is just so funny!

You can see how our homeschool has evolved over time, changed and morphed into something wonderful and unique to our family, now do you see why I was giggling so hard when being poked with the finger pointer thingy? It is amazing how a little finger pointy thingy can bring back so many memories.

Work Life Balance Hacks for You Homeschool Mom

I am a paper calendar kinda gal. This is so cool! I love this idea, I do not like to program my phone or add events to program my calendar. Can't wait to try this.

Homeschool Mom's need to be constantly watching that calendar because things can get out of control!
What do you think? Anyone know what HACK means? lol...sometimes I'm slow  :O)

What a great suggestion from an M.D.

Why Would You Attend A Homeschool Convention?

Why Would You Attend A Homeschool Convention?
Why waste your time?
Why waste your money?
 Why put forth the effort?

My friend Kris has 6 reasons why not to attend this year. Check it out over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers 6 Reasons To Stay Far, Far Away From Homeschool Conventions.

p.s. I think Todd Wilson hits the nail on the head too...with that cartoon.

Ahhhh...A Day Of Rest...

Winter blahs got you down? 

Surprise the kids today on Valentines Day!!

Shut those school books,

Let that laundry pile grow higher,

Grab some pillows and blankets,

Head to the living room and camp out for the day!

Some days you just need to chill out and this is one of those!

Enjoy those little ones while they are still yet little,

Play games with your junior high kids,

Hang with your teenagers...

Let them all have cookies and hot cocoa for lunch,

If you have the fixin's create some fun treats like the guy below.

Homeschool Mom, you are doing great! Create memories that last a lifetime with your kids and 

crack the school books open tomorrow...

Moe

p.s. It's Valentines Day, grab a nice hot shower before hubby comes home and have the kids do a quick 15 minute pick up of the living room before dad gets home.

Freshen Up Your Homeschool Today With Schoolhouseteachers.com!

Those muggy days of summer are upon us! Does your homeschool need freshened up?

One of my favorite homeschool sites is The School House Teachers website. For one low prices you get preschool-12 grade, classes, videos, lesson plans, fun stuff like guitar lessons, art techniques for the lower grades. And tough stuff like biology and algebra for the upper grades. Try a month for free using the coupon code TRIAL (all caps). Then just pay $12.95 each month after.

I have been a member of Schoolhouse Teachers for several years and there is always something new! There are classes that your student can take and they even explain how to give credits for high school for the upper level classes. If you hop around in your homeschool like many of us do, there are archived lesson plans, so no need to be tied down to the computer each day.
 

Don't just veg out!! Do something fun in your homeschool today!

Something that I have liked about Schoolhouse Teachers website is that I have always felt comfortable letting the homeschooled young man freely surf their website. He has actually learned a lot just by goofing around on the site during his free time. Remember the cool think about homeschooling is that our kids learn even when they are having fun! They just don't know that they are learning, because it's fun!

What are you waiting for? Shake things up and freshen up that homeschool of yours!

Moe

p.s. The guitar lessons have been GREAT for the Homeschooled Young Man.

Schoolhouse Teachers Homeschool

http://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=1054&p=https://schoolhouseteachers.com/member-resources/all-courses/ (The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, owner). Yet another useful home education tool provided by http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/.  SchoolhouseTeachers.com is set up by graded sections, pre/K & elementary, middle school and high school with drop down menus for all. You will find everything for homeschooling with topics such as logic, math, science, history, fine arts, Bible and many more electives as well as helps for the homeschool mom.

http://schoolhouseteachers.com/dap/a/?a=1054&p=https://schoolhouseteachers.com/member-resources/all-courses/ is a must for all homeschoolers, whether you are a boxed curriculum homeschooler, eclectic or unschooler this site has something for your student with 400+ classses. Our homeschool has tended towards the boxed curriculum (we have started branching out in recent years though) but it was always missing something. I’ve found what was missing and it was SchoolhouseTeachers.com, there are all sort of goodies to find on this site. 

It just so happens that my son was given an acoustic guitar as a gift and he has been getting library books on how to play the guitar, but they have been either way over his head or contained music that does not fit our family values. As we are reviewing the Old Schoolhouse magazines website SchoolhouseTeachers.com we came across the guitar lessons.

Mom & Dad have no trouble with reminding our son to practice his guitar because SchoolhouseTeachers.com is so much fun to use!

Our son has only been using the guitar lessons from Schoolhouseteachers.com for about a week and a half and by no means is he jammin’ out on the guitar, but he is making music and not just noise anymore. LOL! 

The videos are AWESOME! It's great to go back and watch them again to get the finger movements down pat.

A great feature of SchoolhouseTeachers.com site has unit for parents, it has a monthly menu feature.

Another area that I liked was the logic section. We have always struggled with teaching logic in our homeschool, so I was thrilled to see Logic on the drop down menu under middle school. I like how the lessons are set up so that my son can just go right in and get started. It has helped foster independence on his part. I know that we have a few years to go before college, but when I look at the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website, I’m thinking about how using this site will help our son out in the long run. Online college classes are the future for many of our children and what better way for them to be prepared than by teaching them in pre/k & elementary, middle school and high school with methods that they will continue to use down the road.

We plan to continue searching through all the goodies over the next year that SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers. Post and let me know what you think of the site and how it's enhanced your homeschool.
Have a great day!

FREE Lego Printables

Come check out the free Lego printables over to Tracy's blog Hall of Fame Moms. She has a lot of fun things for Mom's and kids alike!

Take a snow day and drag out those Lego's to get rid of the winter time blah's!!!

New Year & New Curriculum Ideas

The NEW YEAR can be full of new ideas for your homeschool!!

I have been given permission to share these ideas with you from Mary Beth a fellow homeschooling mom, she says that the first 3 ideas came from Chris Davis of Home School Marketplace, but the rest are her own. Long before I read Mary Beth's list I had come up with a similar listing for our homeschool and it's helped me through the years to revisit the list to make sure we are on target.
Mary Beth was answering the following question.

What curriculum do you like best and why?

1. What things did you do or learn in school that have served you well
in your adult life? (Be sure to include them in your curriculum.)

2. What things did you do or learn in school that have proven to have
been a waste of time? (Don't bother with these.)

3. What do you wish someone had taught you? (Be sure to include them.)

4. There is a reason God put these children in your home. What do you
suppose He has in mind for them that you and only you can equip them
for? (This is why your homeschool shouldn't look like everybody
else's.)

5. Imagine that you have a daughter. What kind of man would you want
her to marry? How can you raise your boys to be that type of man?
Think ahead to the day your child leaves home, whether it be for
marriage, college, work, or missions. Answer the following questions:

6. What skills, values, character qualities and faith foundations do
you want your child to have in order for you to be confident that he
is ready to face the world on his own? What can you do now to take
steps toward those goals?

7. What do you not want to regret when your children leave home?
If you look over these lists, you will see that you are well on your
way to a custom-designed curriculum for your family.

We can have a fresh start right now, if things are not working, think about how you can get things working.
How are you going to change things up in your homeschool this new year?

YUMMY Fall Gluten FREE Recipes

As you have read, my focus has been on getting the new homeschool year planned out and started...next week I will share how our first week of homeschool crashed and burned, yet was profitable for the Homeschooled Young Man.

As I was taking a much needed break from life, I came across this wonderful website from My Gluten-Free Kitchen...YUMMY is all I can say. I printed out several of her recipes and plan to make them this week. I just love the fall time of year! I want warm, soft foods like casseroles and Michelle over at My Gluten-Free Kitchen has just the recipes.

Here recipes are all gluten free, but some of her links to other websites/blogs do not have gluten free recipes, but many of them that I looked like could be easily made gluten free. Such as replace soy sauce with gluten free soy sauce or replace noodles with gluten free noodles. All easy fixes so check her out!

Just a few recipes she offers up
Buckeye Brownies
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Snickerdoodles
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

Visit Michelle and enjoy some wonderful fall recipes.

Moe

Back To School Fall Craft

Head over to Spark & Chemistry's blog for this AWESOME Leaf mason jar candle holder just in time for homeschool art class. This would be for junior high or high school aged students. These are super cute and actually pretty easy. No glitter involved either :)  I think the hardest part of this art project for me would be the raffia, I am not a great tying bows.

Pretty cool way to start fall, with some pretty candle holders. We love to light candles in our homeschool during those rainy dreary fall days. Makes the house seem warmer and the day brighter.

Enjoy!
Moe

A No-No List For Homeschoolers

Lee Binz, The Home Scholar has got a great list of No-No's for us homeschooling Mothers.
I really think this list is good; it has some tough subjects and makes you think.

#3 Spoke to me, I was thinking that homeschooling high school would be totally different than homeschooling grade school but it is not.

I just shiver when I hear homeschoolers say that they will be putting their children back in school for high school. Why undo everything that you have done by putting them back in school?

There are so many resources out there for high school and it can and does work. Your child will have more time to explore the their passions and what drives them. They can job shadow and take part in real on the job learning, so that when/if they decide on college they will have a better understanding of what they need to be focusing on.

We have had so many doctors give the Homeschooled Young Man tips on what to do/what not to do as well as their thoughts on what they did and how they wished they had done things differently or focused on different things while in college/medical school.

High school is a wonderful time of growth and maturity for our children, why not be by their side to encourage them and guide them through this time.

I think a lot of what Lee Binz, The Home Scholar touches on in her list, is that we should not micro-manage our children. ZING! That struck me right off the bat, I remember when my 72 year old mother told me I was Micro-managing my child...lol...first off I was like "Mother, how on earth do you know what micro-managing is?" lol. Yes I was micro-managing my child and I have since worked very hard at not doing that.
Trust me on this one; it is much easier to have your child's day planned out, than to wait for him to do it. I am a manager by nature...lol...I think I get that from my BFF's son, he has taught me well...HAHAHA!!

Have a great school year!
Moe

FREE 2014-2015 Homeschool Planner!!! Value $125.95. HURRY!!!

Come get a FREE planner from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine! These are super nice and retail for $125.95.
You get all of the following
Grade school
Middle school
High school
Special needs

We have used these in our homeschool for a few years and I love them!! Helps me stay on top of things and organize my school year, home and more.

Enjoy!
Moe

HURRY!! FREE Homeschool Planner!! ENDS TODAY!

Ultimate Planner For Homeschooling Moms Free
Come on over and check this out from the Frugal Homeschool Family. They are super nice and just in time for the new school year.

Moe

Cake + Teenager = Lesson In Contentment

Contentment & The Pre-Pre Med’s Birthday Cake sums up a lesson learned.
I got this really cool idea to have a ER, well now known as an ED birthday party theme for the Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man. He corrects me on this every chance that he gets ;-0

You see back in the 'old days' as he would say, hospitals only had 1 room for emergencies, hence the name "EMERGENCY ROOM". Now hospitals have more than 1 room and so they are now deemed "EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS." In light of this I thought what better birthday party theme to go with? lol.

I had this really cool cake in mind, ya know the Mejier version of an AWESOME Cake Boss cake...lol. I even explained what I wanted twice to the cake decorator. I warned the Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man that "I don't think the cake lady understood what I wanted, she kept drawing and crossing things out." I was thinking how hard can this be? I want a cake that says EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT at the top and then a large blank space for me to put my own decorations on.

Fast forward a week and I pick up the cake the morning of the party and it's not the right cake. The girl said "Well I can take this one with the polka dots on it and write emergency department on it." Dare I even laugh? They were large pastel polka dots and he is a 14 year old boy." hahaha. I just said "No, I will just take the other cake." As I walked away discontented, the Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man put his arm around me and said "Don't worry about it, I like it, it's fine."

I liked it better once I got the Lego doctors, nurses, surgeon, patient, gurney and other equipment on the cake. ( with a little help from a friend). I am still trying to figure out what some of the things are that the cake decorator had drawn on the cake...lol.

Earlier tonight, the day after the party, Pre-Pre Med homeschooled young man was cutting himself a slice of his cake and he thanked me for taking the time and effort to get the cake for. He told me that even though it was not the cake that I had wanted, that he was happy with it. He even said "You could have just thawed out one of those giant cookie cakes we have in the freezer."

So this is where contentment factors in. I already had a cake in the freezer, but I wanted more/better. We teach our kids day in and day out about math, science, grammar and history, but what do those things really boil down to? Smarts, yes smarts count for something in life, but contentment factors into our every day lives. Yet it is so easy to forget that fact and busy ourselves with all sorts of school stuff. Nothing like a teenager to teach you about the facts of life.

Philippians 4:11

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

 

I am learning, but sometimes I need a teenager to teach me and keep me grounded.

FREE Gift for Mother's Day! 5/11/14 only

In The Hands Of A Child lapbooks & notebooks project pack Famous Mommies and/or project pack Amazing Women in American History-a glimpse at the lives of Amazing American Woman.

Check it out from In The Hands Of A Child.

Happy Mother's Day!!
Moe

FREE Printable Prayer Cards For Homeschool Moms

Let me just say that these are very COOL and very helpful. What a blessing from the Proverbial Homemaker.
Printable homeschooling prayer cards for mom.
Let us know what you think of these little treasures, may they bless your homeschool.
Moe

FREE Homeschool Prayer Calendar

Stop by the The Road To 31 blog and check out the Homeschool Moms Prayer Life Line Printable Prayer Calendar it is really nice. She also has some awesome prayer cards for homeschool moms that I will share on another post.

For most of you the school year is coming to an end, (we homeschool year round) so end the year on a good note and with some goodies in your back pocket for next school year!

Moe